Saturday, May 27, 2017

A reputed mob figure has been indicted on charges he fraudulently
qualified for early retirement benefits from the Social Security
Administration.
John A. Matassa Jr., then secretary-treasurer of
the Independent Union of Amalgamated Workers Local 711, put his wife on
the payroll in a do-nothing job in February 2013 while lowering his own
salary, authorities charged.
He then applied for the early retirement benefits from SSA's
Old-Age Insurance program, listing his reduced salary, which enabled him
to qualify for those benefits, the indictment alleged.
The
charges also alleged that Matassa personally signed his wife's paychecks
from the union and had them deposited into the couple's bank account.

Matassa,
65, of Arlington Heights, is scheduled to be arraigned next week in
federal court on two counts of wire fraud, two counts of theft of
government funds, four counts of embezzlement from a labor organization
and two counts of making false entries in union records.
In the
late 1990s, Matassa, nicknamed "Pudgy," was kicked out as president of
the Laborers Union Chicago local over his alleged extensive ties to
organized crime.
Matassa's name also surfaced during the 2009
trial of a deputy U.S. marshal who was convicted of leaking sensitive
information to a family friend with alleged mob ties, knowing the
details would end up in the Outfit's hands. The leak involved the
then-secret cooperation of Outfit turncoat Nicholas Calabrese, whose
testimony led to the convictions of numerous mob figures in the landmark
Operation Family Secrets.
His lawyer declined to comment on the indictment.